The
abductor of 16 year old Abi Nixon is intent on torturing her poor mum, DS
Sam Nixon. Last week's clues have led Sam to a website, where a webcam shows
that Abi is alive but in a sealed container, with a clock showing that her
oxygen is running out. The race is on to find Abi before she suffocates. "Sam
has to use all her instincts, intelligence and top police training to track down
her daughter, praying she'll find her in time", says Lisa Maxwell who plays
Sun Hill's tough cop."Nothing will ever be the same for Sam. She's not only been searching for her daughter but questioning her attitude, both Abi and towards her colleagues and their attitude towards her. She's a loner and so ambitious and focused on her job that she's trodden on people to get where she is. She's made so many enemies on the way up and one of those has a grudge big enough to make them want to abduct her daughter."
Chief suspect is Sam's old adversary from her serial killer investigation, the creepy Peter Baxter, played by Hywel Bennett (EastEnders hard man Jack Dalton). All evidence points to him, but is someone else deliberately trying to lead Sam up the garden path? The 42 year old actress admits that the storyline has been emotionally draining (yeah, on the audience too - Ed). "Those tears that Sam sheds are real, they're mine. I haven't used anything artificial,"says Lisa. "Reading the script alone and living with my character's torment has been enough."
"It's been three months' work and very tiring. And I've been ''on the wagon" the whole time. I knew if I started having a drink after work, I wouldn't be fit for the next day's shooting. I had to keep focused, like Sam. What's kept me going has been getting back home to my little girl, Beau, who's four and my partner, Paul. As soon a I step through that front door, my life changes. I read a bedtime story to Beau and I'm back to normal. And then I cuddle up to Paul and fall asleep!"